BTG-owned Swiss bank BSI hires general counsel

ZURICH Feb 15 (Reuters) - BSI, the Swiss private bank owned
by Brazil's embattled Grupo BTG Pactual SA, has
hired a former Swiss prosecutor as its general counsel, a
spokeswoman for the Lugano-based lender said in an emailed
statement on Monday.

The statement, which confirmed Swiss media reports, gave no
reason for the appointment of Emanuele Stauffer and did not say
if he was replacing an existing employee or was filling a newly
created post.

It said Stauffer, who had more recently worked as partner at
the law firm PSMLaw, would take up the position in March.

BTG Pactual has put BSI up for sale as it looks to divest
assets to raise cash and restore investor confidence after its
billionaire founder was arrested in November in connection with
a Brazilian corruption probe.

BSI has faced legal headaches in recent years.

In March, the bank agreed to pay a $211 million penalty
after admitting it had for decades helped thousands of U.S.
clients open accounts in Switzerland and hide assets from tax
authorities.

It has also been dragged into Singapore's money laundering
probe linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd. Citing documents
released at the Singapore High Court, Reuters last week reported
that Yak Yew Chee, a senior banker at BSI Singapore, had emerged
as a key figure in the money laundering investigation.
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by David Holmes)